Iowa State women faculty and staff met at noon on Friday and discussed several issues which they have to face. “Feeling Ice-olated?” was the title of the event, which attracted nearly 25 women to the Gold Room of the Memorial Union.

Those attending the discussion brought lunches, and ate as they addressed common needs and interests of women across campus.

One of the reasons many of the women attended the discussion was to meet others like themselves. As Mary Jo Vivian from the plant pathology department said, “One way to help alleviate the isolated feeling women have is to cut across lines.”

There are many different things which may cause women to feel isolated, Mikie Walker, secretary in veterinary pathology, said. “It may be communication issues, it may be information issues.”

She said the idea for the discussion came about during a retreat last winter for the University Committee on Women. During that event, she said, ” … isolation was named as a problem.”

“What are your needs,” Stephanie Chervinko, program assistant for adult and commuter students, asked the group, “and how are people defining isolation?”

Amy Bix, assistant professor of history, said she doesn’t feel isolated professionally. “But personally … being young and female … there’s not one blanket solution,” she said.

Others in attendance agreed with Bix’s statement. Several stated that while they had a strong work environment, the isolation was mostly on a personal level.

They also agreed that the issue of isolation was not confined to campus. “It’s both a campus issue and a community of Ames issue,” Chervinko said. She said Ames is a very family-oriented community, and it seems like ” … either you’re doing things with your family, or you’re a student. What is there to do if you’re in-between?”

As Bix said, “Not everyone fits the nuclear family description.”

Ellen Rasmussen, of the Provost’s Office, agreed. “People are very well-meaning, but they tend to think, ‘everyone looks like us.'”

Susie Mikler, from the Center for Family Research, expanded on that. “I’ve been here 10 years, and I still feel isolated. It is both gender-based and how we look.” She said besides feeling that everyone looks alike, people have a tendency to ” … think we all think alike also.”

Several ideas were discussed about ways to bring professional women together. “Maybe we’re guilty ourselves of not taking enough initiative,” Vivian said.

Animal science staff member Jo Phillips has been in Ames for nearly 21 years. She recalled when she first moved to Ames, there was a small group of people like her that started to meet and do activities together, like play cards.

“It worked really well,” she said. Unfortunately, the group disbanded when the host moved away. “That’s what it takes — someone to take charge.”

Several ideas were then brought up as possible ways for the group to get together on a regular basis. “Do we want to just get together; would a newsletter help?” asked Walker. The idea of having a deli-potluck dinner was also discussed.

The most popular idea was to hold a monthly brown-bag lunch. This would be a casual, “drop-in” sort of event, with information available to those present.